Outreach educators on the LEAF staff are fond of saying “even grass growing in a crack in the sidewalk can be a teachable outdoor space.” And it’s true—take a look at the Project Learning Tree lesson “Discover Diversity” or LEAF's list of lessons for school grounds for example of that. While we firmly believe that even the simplest school grounds provide opportunities for outdoor teaching and learning, there is something to be said for the educational benefits that an enhanced school grounds or school forest provide. One enhancement with far-ranging benefits is the creation of an edible forest, or edible school grounds. You may be familiar with schools that produce maple syrup and other products from their forests and school grounds trees. Edible forests, sometimes called food forests or forest gardens, are different in that they generally focus on producing fruit, berries, and nuts.

The simplest approach to creating an edible school grounds is to add fruit and nut-bearing trees to the schoolyard. Trees planted near the school can benefit from regular care from the maintenance and grounds staff, and are easy to access for harvesting crops once they start bearing fruit. The School District of Amery and Madison Elementary in Stevens Point have both done this, planting orchard-type trees like apples, cherries, plums and pears right near their schools. In Amery, whose schoolyard orchard was planted a decade ago, each class has their own tree to maintain and enjoy. Fall apple harvests go home to students, who often bring the fruit back to school in the form of baked goods to share. Madison Elementary plans to use the fruit from their young orchard to participate in the Great Lakes Great Apple Crunch.

Of course, if your school has a larger space like a school forest, the possibilities for creating an edible forest are even greater. Weston School District near Baraboo and Stanley-Boyd Area Schools have orchards planted adjacent to their school forests which bear apples, pears and plums. These schools produce enough fruit to use in their school kitchens for student lunches, and in Weston, to press cider for special events. If you don’t have enough open space for an orchard but you do have a forest plot, you might choose to plant a food forest that mimics the forest edge, where short shrubs—think raspberry or gooseberry—are flanked by medium-sized trees like hazelnut or serviceberry, before you reach the taller fruit and nut trees that lead to the “actual” forest. This method can produce a large amount of food in a small space, and is an exciting way for students to learn about different structural layers of a forest.

Fruit trees can be damaged or killed by disease, pests, wildlife, or even humans, and trees planted on school grounds and school forests are certainly susceptible to these concerns. Don’t forget to involve students in your quest to learn about and solve these problems. It’s also important to remember that patience is a virtue when planting any type of fruit or nut-bearing tree. The average wait for a standard-size apple tree to start bearing fruit is eight years. Dwarf trees start bearing much more quickly, as do berry bushes or small nut trees like hazelnut. Large nut trees can take up to a decade or even more to start producing nuts. LEAF staff sometimes hear stories about students reaping the benefits of school forests that their grandparents were involved in planting—maybe children planting a walnut tree in their school forest today will get to visit as adults and collect the nuts!

Whether you have an expansive plot of hardwoods and pines or a cement crack with clover peeking through, there are plenty of opportunities to create teachable moments. Discover resources from LEAF’s Edible Forest Kit for creating a food forest for your school or learn how your school can connect students to nature through trees with Tree Campus K-12.

Most School Forests serve K-12 students. UW River Falls is one of the few higher learning institutions that have properties registered in the School Forest Program. Kelsey and her work with forestry faculty members have transformed the UW River Falls school forest into a high impact space that supports the campus and community. She has received grants from the Wisconsin DNR and US Fish and Wildlife Service to support invasive species management, resulting in numerous community outreach events and service projects such as the installation of boot cleaning stations. Earlier this year, she and a colleague received funding from the Quiet Trails Fund through the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin to establish trails and foster increased use of one of our school forest lands.

Have questions or need additional resources? Contact us at leaf@uwsp.edu. We are here to support educators and students with forestry opportunities.